# How often should I update my business website?

By Humfrid · Keeping it current · Published 2026-11-03 · https://humfrid.com/blog/how-often-update-business-website/

> Update it the day a fact changes: your hours, prices, services, a holiday closure or the season. There's no schedule Google rewards for its own sake, and changing a page's date without changing the page doesn't help. What counts is that every page is right today. A quick look once a month, plus a check before each holiday and season, keeps it that way. Or text Humfrid each change the day it happens, and your website says it, with no login.

Text Humfrid what changed, like "summer hours start June 1" or "we stopped weekend deliveries," and your website says it. No login, no computer, no dashboard to remember to check. Start at https://humfrid.com/.

Your website is where a customer checks before they come: are you open, what do you charge, do you still do that service. When it's right, they show up ready to buy. When it's out of date, they show up at the wrong time, or not at all. So the real question is how to keep it true. Humfrid's answer is to make each update one text, sent the day it happens.

## Is there a right schedule for updating a business website?

Yes: the day something about your business changes. A site that's accurate and hasn't been touched in four months is in better shape than one that's edited every week and still lists last year's prices.

Google's SEO Starter Guide lists [the content is up-to-date](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide) among the things that make a page useful, and suggests you [check in on previously published content and update it as needed, or even delete it if it's not relevant anymore](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide). It doesn't give a number of updates per month, because what matters is that the page is right.

## How Humfrid does this for you

With Humfrid, each update is a text, sent the day it happens, the way you'd tell a friend:

- "Closed Thanksgiving Day."
- "Summer hours start June 1."
- "We no longer do weekend deliveries."
- "New photo of the shop, put it on the front page."

Hours, prices and contact details can be changed any time, by text, with no login. Photos and voice notes work. If you don't like how something was written, text back what to change.

Every plan includes a weekly report with your visitors and bookings, and a blog with posts from the photos you text. Humfrid's top plan adds content planned around your busy seasons and written for you, and a monthly plan with your goals and next steps, with check-ins until they're done. Humfrid won't text you all the time: you hear about your next step, a post idea or your weekly report, and if you don't answer, it stops.

Humfrid also helps you keep your Google Business Profile complete, and writes your profile posts and review replies for you to post, which helps keep the profile from looking quiet when old posts are archived (more on that below). You run the profile, so you post them and set its hours there. The [plans](/plans) show what each one adds.

## Does Google reward websites that are updated often?

Google looks for pages that are useful and current, not edits for their own sake. Its guidance on helpful content lists warning signs of pages made for search engines rather than people. One is: ["Are you changing the date of pages to make them seem fresh when the content has not substantially changed?"](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content) Another asks whether you're adding or removing a lot of content mainly because you think it will help your rankings. Google's answer on that page: ["(No, it won't)"](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content).

Google does use freshness, for searches where newer content is expected. Its ranking systems guide describes ["query deserves freshness" systems designed to show fresher content for queries where it would be expected](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide), like someone searching for a movie that just came out. Someone looking for a dog groomer or a bakery near them isn't asking for news. They want facts that are right today.

## Why does an out-of-date website cost me customers?

Because customers act on what it says. They show up during hours you no longer keep, ask for a service you dropped, or expect a price you raised last spring.

It also affects what Google shows. Google says [businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091). And when someone suggests an edit to your Business Profile, Google gives you [4 days to accept or reject the suggestion](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3480441). If you don't respond, Google may publish the change when it's backed by other public information, [such as your business website](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3480441). A website with today's facts backs you up there.

## What goes stale first on a small business website?

The things with a date attached, and the things that change with the season. In rough order:

- **Holiday hours and closures.** The most common one, and the one customers notice most.
- **Seasonal hours.** Summer evenings, winter closures, an off-season.
- **Prices.** Especially after a supplier raise or a new year.
- **Services, menus and products.** Something added, something you stopped offering.
- **Anything with an end date.** A sale, an event, a "now booking for spring" banner still up in fall.
- **Photos and people.** An old storefront, a staff member who moved on, last year's work.
- **Links and buttons.** A booking link or a social page that moved.

Each of these is one text to Humfrid, sent the day it changes.

Your Google Business Profile has its own expiry dates. Google says [posts older than 6 months are archived unless a date range is set](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7342169), so a profile that only had posts in spring can look quiet by fall.

## What's a simple monthly and seasonal checklist?

Ten minutes a month and a short check before each season covers most businesses.

| When | What to check |
| --- | --- |
| Every month | Hours, prices, services, phone number, and that buttons and links work |
| Before each holiday | Holiday hours on your site and your Google profile |
| Each new season | Seasonal hours, services, menu and photos |
| Once a year | Every page, top to bottom, plus your team and the areas you serve |

The monthly look, step by step:

1. Open your site on your phone, the way a customer would.
2. Tap your phone number and your booking or order button to make sure they work.
3. Read your hours, prices and services against what's true today.
4. Take down anything that has ended: a sale, an event, a sold-out item.
5. Look at the holidays coming up in the next month, and set those hours now.

For holidays on Google, use special hours rather than changing your regular hours. Google says [your special hours will appear to customers on Google only for the designated days](https://support.google.com/business/answer/6303076), and that [it's a good idea to confirm your hours for official holidays, even if they're the same as your regular hours](https://support.google.com/business/answer/6303076). Set them on Google, and text Humfrid the same hours for your website. There's a full walk-through in [how to update your business hours everywhere](/blog/update-business-hours/).

## Should I show a "last updated" date on my website?

Show one where it helps a customer and it's true. On a page of prices or a seasonal menu, a line like "Prices as of March" tells a customer the page is current.

Google's guidance on page dates says to [label your dates appropriately with text like "Publish" or "Last updated"](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/publication-dates), and that dates should reflect when the page itself was published or updated. Changing the date without changing the page doesn't make it fresher.

## What if nothing about my business has changed?

Then your website is doing its job: it's right today. There's no need to edit an accurate page just to look busy.

When you want the site to feel more alive, add something real: photos of recent work, a new service, this season's specials. Those help because a customer gains something from them, and with Humfrid each one is a photo or a line sent by text. If you're not sure your site has the basics in the first place, start with [what a small business website should have on it](/blog/what-to-put-on-a-small-business-website/).

Text Humfrid your business name, and you'll see your website within a day.

## Sources

- [SEO Starter Guide: The Basics](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide), Google
- [Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content), Google
- [A Guide to Google Search Ranking Systems](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide), Google
- [Add a Byline Date to Google Search Results](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/publication-dates), Google
- [Understand Google updates on your Business Profile](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3480441), Google
- [Tips to improve your local ranking on Google](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091), Google
- [How to set Special hours](https://support.google.com/business/answer/6303076), Google
- [Create & manage posts on your Business Profile](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7342169), Google